Hume stalwart says goodbye to AV after 36 years

February 21, 2025 | in News

Highly respected Hume Clinical Support Officer (CSO) Guy Zuccala ASM has retired from Ambulance Victoria (AV) after more than three decades on the road.

Salvatore Guido Zuccala ASM, better known as Guy, wanted to be a paramedic from a young age and spent some of his youth providing first aid through St John Ambulance.

Never did he think this would lead him to be one of the first paramedics in Victoria to deliver revolutionary thrombolysis treatment to dissolve blood clots in heart attack and stroke patients.

“In 2014, Seymour and the Hume 1 area were picked for the pilot of the treatment, so we got to use it before it was broadly implemented,” Guy said. “It was a big feat.”

“They used that case as part of the learning package for thrombolysis treatment, so it was a very memorable job.”

Guy joined the Metropolitan Ambulance Service in 1989, starting out at South Melbourne branch, before moving to Preston, Broadmeadows and Epping.

“It was the northernmost branch in Melbourne at the time and the closest Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) crew was miles away,” Guy said.

“It was a different kettle of fish to what that area is today – you can’t even compare it.”

In 2004, Guy completed training to become a MICA paramedic himself before first stepping into the CSO role when seconded to the Alexandra and District Ambulance Service (ADAS).

Soon after, the Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Rural Ambulance Victoria and ADAS amalgamated into the current AV.

“They wanted to appoint a CSO to the new Hume 1 region, so I applied for the position, and I got it – and I ended up in that role for more than 15 years,” Guy said.

The CSO role, among other things, involves travelling to provide clinical support to paramedics and first responders, and particularly, graduate paramedics and MICA students.

Guy’s career highlights include his involvement in the medical advancement of paramedic practice in Victoria, and being recognised in the 2016 Australian Honours with an Ambulance Service Medal (ASM).

“I was absolutely stoked to know my colleagues put me forward for the ASM,” Guy said.

“That in itself is one of the biggest highlights of my career.

“I couldn’t believe it when I received a letter from the Governor General telling me I’d been nominated for an ASM – wow.”

Guy said he left school at 17 to join a regional ambulance service as a cadet but lasted just six months after experiencing racism.

Thankfully, he was encouraged back to the profession he loves by a colleague at a major Melbourne hospital.

“I did a few different jobs and ended up working at PANCH hospital, which was one of the major hospitals in Melbourne back in the day.

“One of the surgeons there was on the ambulance service’s board of management and he encouraged me to come back to the ambulance service.

“By this point, the culture within the ambulance service had changed and there were a lot of Italian and Greek people working the job – when I had started, there were none.”

Thankfully for Guy (and for AV) he saw ambulance officer roles advertised a year or so later and applied – and the rest is history.

Guy finished up with AV in early February, saying he’ll be taking some time to focus on his health before travelling.

He thanked his family and colleagues for their support throughout his career.

“I want to thank my wife and my children for supporting me and standing by me through it all,” Guy said.

“The number of times I had to leave them at dinner and rush out of a restaurant to go to work or miss going to their sport games or events – I often wasn’t around when I should have been.

“The other people I’d like to particularly thank are the other MICA paramedics at Seymour – we really had each other’s backs.”

Guy said he’s loved living and working in country Victoria.

“I lived in Seymour for a long time, and I basically knew everybody,” he said.

“Working in the country, you’re part of a community – you walk down the street and everybody knows you, knows your kids, knows where you live.”

Hume 4 CSO Paul Stefaniak said it was an honour and privilege to work alongside Guy for two decades.

“Guy was a passionate advocate for all his paramedic colleagues and for the improvement of resourcing in his area,” Paul said.

“Guy trained and mentored all levels of staff from Ambulance Community Officers (ACOs) to Advanced Life Support (ALS) and MICA paramedics.

“Guy was a consummate professional and an absolute gentleman who was highly respected and loved by all his colleagues.”

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